South Korea: Suwon priests study artificial intelligence for parish life

In first ever, a training course organised in collaboration with a company in the sector explored not so much the ethical implications but the opportunities for the practical use of these tools in pastoral care. Participants said: ‘It can become an essential aid in improving preaching and pastoral care.’

Suwon (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Artificial intelligence is an issue that increasingly affects people's daily lives. Even Pope Leo XIV often mentions it as an area of particular concern in his teachings. But beyond the legitimate concerns about the ethical issues raised by some of its uses, can these new tools also offer new pastoral opportunities for the Church?

In a country at the forefront of the use of these tools, such as South Korea, the Catholic weekly Catholic Times reports that the diocese of Suwon recently organised an event dedicated specifically to exploring this aspect. On 2 July, a training session was held for priests to learn the basic principles and methods of using generative artificial intelligence. Promoted by the local Office for Social Communications, it was the first event organised by a diocese dedicated not so much to theoretical reflections on artificial intelligence, but to its practical use in a parish. In addition to the clergy of Suwon, participants also came from the archdiocese of Daegu and the diocese of Masan.

‘Since it is a hot topic at the moment and its areas of application are expanding,’ explained the director of the Office, Fr. Lee Cheol-gu, ‘we have prepared training for priests to learn skills that can be used in the pastoral field.’

The training was conducted by a company specialising in artificial intelligence (AI) literacy. The participating priests learned about business applications of generative AI, the various features of ChatGPT, and how to effectively achieve desired results through searches with these types of tools. The seminar also included a practical session using various AI tools to create images, produce presentations from specific documents, and create videos and background music. Among the uses of the premium version of ChatGPT, they also experimented with a chatbot capable of automatically creating meeting minutes.

‘I participated in this training because I believe that artificial intelligence will become an essential technology for preaching or pastoral care of the faithful in the future,’ Fr Ignazio Son Chang-hyun, one of the priests present, told the Catholic Times. I think that if we could better understand the trends and moods of the faithful, which change from place to place, through data analysis, we could get closer to them in pastoral terms.‘

’I believe that religion and science must be well harmonised in order for God's new work to be accomplished," added Fr. Bartolomeo Choi Jae-yong to the Catholic weekly. I participated in the training because I think religion must actively learn and understand science and technology in order to prevent abuses related to their use."

Collaboration with companies that develop artificial intelligence-based tools is another objective of the initiative. ‘Using this type of technology myself,’ Fr. Leone Lee Jae-geun, deputy director of the Office for Social Communications of the Diocese of Suwon, told the Catholic Times, ‘I have noticed that Catholic and Protestant terminology are often confused and that there is a lot of misinformation about the saints. I therefore thought it necessary for the Church to collaborate with companies to improve these aspects.’

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